VALLEY CITY, ND (NewsDakota.com) An overnight fire at a Valley City apartment complex has claimed one life, while several were rescued from their balconies Wednesday morning.
Valley City Fire Department Chief Scott Magnuson said his department was alerted at 12:36 AM to several smoke and fire calls from an apartment complex at 215 6th Ave. SW. The complex is identified as Viking Manor in business listings online.
Magnuson said smoke was coming from every unit in the building when first responders. Several people were awaiting rescue on their balconies, while two had jumped from their balconies to avoid the fire.
Upon entry, Fire Department personnel found a female victim that was removed from the building. Barnes County Ambulance personnel assumed control of the victim, but the victim died. The victim’s name has not been released.
The North Dakota Fire Marshall and North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation have been brought into the investigation. Magnuson said those steps are not due to any suspicion, but add “tools in determining what happened at the scene.”
All of the residents of the 16-unit apartment building have been displaced due to this fire.
